WHERE WE STAND: No road map for year ahead

It's disappointing that the property tax issue continues to be ignored.

Prior to delivering his state of the state address Tuesday, Gov. Chris Christie said it would focus heavily on Superstorm Sandy. It did. Most of the rest of his 45-minute address came across as a campaign stump speech, with the governor enumerating his real and imagined successes over his first three years.

There is no question that overseeing the recovery from the storm should be at the top of Christie's agenda. But it should not totally obscure the need to address other important issues in the state. Judging from Christie's speech, there are no other issues. He gave no indication of what his goals will be in the final year of his four-year term.

There was no mention of the need to lower property taxes, which at a highest-in-the-nation average of $7,759 remain a major concern for many residents. There was no mention of the need to pass legislation that would make it easier for towns to share and consolidate services. And there was no hint of any plans to try to jump-start the state's economy, which lags behind most other states, or bring down the state's unemployment rate, which at 9.6 percent is one of the highest in the nation.

Instead, Christie noted there was "plenty of evidence that New Jerseyans have not let it (Sandy) stop our turnaround." He put the spin on a number of statistics that made his economic job performance appear far better than an objective analysis would suggest. During last year's state of the state address, Christie's theme was "The New Jersey Comeback" - a theme he largely abandoned midway through the year when the dismal economic indicators rendered it something of an embarrassment.

State Democrats, prior to Tuesday's address and shortly thereafter, went after Christie for repeatedly rejecting their plans to create jobs, expand the economy and provide more affordable health care for more New Jersey residents. It's an area where the popular governor could be vulnerable in a re-election year; the state's economy is in a bad place, and structural reform to cut down reliance on property taxes hasn't been taken up.

While the average property tax bill rose less than 2 percent last year - one of the smallest increases in the past two decades - it doesn't take into account the loss of the homestead rebate and tax credits. When those are factored in, the property tax burden actually increased by about 20 percent.

Sandy deserved to be in the limelight in Tuesday's address. But Christie otherwise failed to lay out much of a plan to address other important issues New Jerseyans care about.

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WHERE WE STAND: No road map for year ahead

Prior to delivering his state of the state address Tuesday, Gov. Chris Christie said it would focus heavily on Superstorm Sandy. It did.